First baby-friendly coworking space in London given the go ahead

Cuckooz Nest will be the capital’s first workspace to offer ‘pay-as-you-go’ baby-friendly coworking desks in Farrringdon, EC1.

Self-employed parents rejoice! Islington Council together with planning consultants DP9 have unanimously granted permission for Cuckooz Nest, the first coworking space of it’s kind (and certainly not the last), to open this spring.

The 2,575 sq ft space will combine design-led coworking space with childcare facilities that will comply with the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework, ensuring that the care provided is to OFSTED standards.

36 workstations will be available to rent alongside facilities to accommodate up to 21 children. Designed with affordability and flexibility in mind, Cuckooz Nest will charge £20 per hour on a ‘pay as you go’ basis, giving parents access to both the office and creche.

“With UK childcare currently equating to roughly a third of the average household income, the cost of childcare has become a major issue and is keeping parents out of work.”

CGIs depict what the creche and boardroom will look like on completion:

“…One untapped area of this ‘gig economy’ is working parents, particularly female entrepreneurs and business owners.”

Property entrepreneurs Charlie Rosier and Fabienne O’Neill co-founded the project after experiencing the challenges of childcare in London and seeing a gap in the coworking market.

Charlie explains: “With UK childcare currently equating to roughly a third of the average household income, the cost of childcare has become a major issue and is keeping parents out of work. London has the worst maternal employment rate in the UK – if we improved this to meet the UK average a further 80,000 more mothers could be in work.”

Fabienne, who has run leading global events in Paris and Sydney, most recently within the field of ‘Future of Work’ and the evolving technological impacts on workplace and people, added: “An emerging trend of self-employed workers, freelancers and entrepreneurs has translated into a worldwide explosion of co-working space, but one untapped area of this ‘gig economy’ is working parents, particularly female entrepreneurs and business owners.

In the UK, one in seven freelancers are working mums, and the number of self-employed women is rising at nearly three times the rate of men. However, Cuckooz Nest is not “just for mums” we are an inclusive workspace allowing working parents to strike the right work/life balance without compromising one for another.”

Cuckooz Nest creche will be open between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday and classes will be held out of hours, providing insight into childcare and nutrition.